I found the following biographical information interesting and worthy of sharing...
"Isaac Sober, father of Coleman K. Sober, was a native and lifelong resident of Northumberland County, where he was a wealthy and influential agriculturist. He was born Feb. 23, 1814, and died June 12, 1882. His wife, Mary (Krighbaum), daughter of George and Barbara (Reed) Krighbaum, was also of Northumberland county birth, and ten children were born to their union, namely: Freeman W., who was a farmer in Virginia, where he died: Harriet, wife of Samuel Swinehart, of Northumberland county. Pa.: Coleman K.: Clinton D., a farmer and dairyman of Northumberland county (he is a great shot with the gun); Isabella, widow of F. W. Gilder, who died in Philadelphia, Pa.: Barbara Ann, widow of Mahlon C. Mover, who died in Shamokin: Amanda, deceased, who was the wife of G. Startzel of Shamokin: Adeline, deceased, wife of A. Campbell; Martin Luther (another phenomenal shot in the family, and in whom Mr. Sober says he finds the nearest approach to a rival in game shooting): and Clara, wife of ex-County Treasurer D. S. Hollibaugh, MD, a prominent physician in Shamokin. Mrs. Sober was not only an excellent rifle shot, but also an expert mechanic. She was the only child of a famous gunmaker of the Susquehanna Valley in his day—the latter part of the eighteenth and the early part of the nineteenth century —and many a time in her girlhood she assisted her father in his shop. Her skill in shooting was acquired in testing the guns turned out in the shop, and so adept was she that with her own hands she manufactured a gun that became the property of her future husband."
Ref. “Genealogical & Biographical Annals of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania” by J.L. Floyd & Company, Chicago, 1911
According to my research, Mrs. Mary Sober was the daughter of gunsmith George Kreighbaum (b. 1790). George Kreighbaum (spelled several different ways in the records) worked as a gunsmith in Shamokin Township in Northumberland County, circa 1810-1870. Mary J. Kreighbaum was born October 5, 1817 and died September 10, 1890. Her son, Coleman K. Sober, became a wealthy and respected lumberman in Lewisburg, and widely known for his upland game bird shooting prowess.
I hope the rifle Mary made for her husband has somehow remained in the family and is proudly displayed in the home of one of her descendants as treasured heirloom.
Mark Loudenslager
